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Let's face it. Writer-directors Joel and Ethan Coen clearly are more interested in Anton Chigurh (Best Actor Javier Bardem), a cold-blooded psychopathic killer, than any of film's good guys or girls. Now comes "Funny Games." Here, Austrian film auteur Michael Haneke remakes his 1997 Germanlanguage movie of the same name, shot for shot, in English for the U.S. market. It's about a couple of polite preppie psychopaths who hold a model upper middle class family hostage in its home, subjecting them to unbearable torture and humiliation. At several points, the main sicko, Paul (Michael Pitt), asks the audience to join in the "fun," which seems to be Haneke's way of rubbing America's nose in its obsession with violence. In fact, when one of the victim pleads, "Why don't you just kill us and get it over with?" Paul replies, "What about entertainment?" While the moments of bloodshed are offcamera, the audience/spectator is taken to task for buying a movie ticket. The creepy feeling of Roman Coliseum participation is reminiscent of the recent "Untraceable," in which a serial killer accelerates torture online as viewers link up to his website, www. killwith me.com. Filmmakers want it both ways: Glorify violence, yet make the social statement against it.
Paul and his buddy, Peter (Brady Corbet), show up at Southhampton waterfront estate of Ann and George Farber (Naomi Watts and Tim Roth), where the couple has just arrived with their young son, Georgie (Devon Gearhart) and golden retriever, Lucky. With immaculate manners, Peter wants to know whether Ann can spare four eggs for the neighboring family with whom he and Paul are staying. When he drops the eggs and breaks another four, Ann becomes annoyed. Paul walks in, borrows a golf club and, before long, has used it to smash George's leg. It becomes obvious that Paul and Peter plan to stay. Then, the mind games start, involving how and when the family will die. For most of the movie, the Farbers seem oddly complacent, as if making too much of a "scene" would be rude. It's this relative inaction that sends out chills to the audience. This attractive family seem to accept their place as lambs for the slaughter. Also frightening is how unsafe the affluent are in their remote gated communities. If a smooth-talking, nice-looking teenager can gain entrance for a few eggs, what's the point of an alarm system?
Beware of wolves in preppie clothing… and sadistic filmmakers with social messages.
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